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Progressive Christian

2025-10-17T19:41:35-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus & Lao Tzu: Winnie the Pooh and the Serenity Prayer

Last updated on: October 17, 2025 at 7:41 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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What does Winnie the Pooh have to do with the Serenity Prayer? Both display truths found in Jesus and the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. The beloved bear and the Serenity Prayer teach us to embrace the world as it is, without trying to change it. Lao Tzu, the Taoist author of the Tao Te Ching, compares this state of innocence to becoming like an Uncarved Block. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Chapter 28 J.H. McDonald Version Know the masculine,... Read more

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2025-10-17T19:28:44-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Renaming God: The Unmoved Mover and The Center

Last updated on: October 17, 2025 at 7:28 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Renaming God as the Unmoved Mover and the Center displays the Divine as stillness in motion—where Greek, Christian, and Taoist wisdom meet. Last night in my living room, four generations discussed language meaningful to each but unrecognizable to the others. One group might not understand “the bee’s knees,” while another can make no sense out of “skibidi rizz.” What’s meaningful to one group might sound like nonsense to another. That’s why generations must learn each other’s language if they are... Read more

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2025-09-21T13:29:06-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Retrain Your Brain: 7 Steps from Outrage to Inner Peace

Last updated on: September 21, 2025 at 1:29 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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When unwelcome and alarming posts keep appearing on your feed, you can retune your algorithm. Here’s how to retrain your brain, too. My last article, “How to Retune Your Algorithm for Spiritual Peace” offered six ways to retune the algorithm on your social media feed. But inner peace involves more than just changing your technology. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Here’s how you can do that…... Read more

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2025-09-21T13:11:06-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How to Retune Your Algorithm for Spiritual Peace

Last updated on: September 21, 2025 at 1:11 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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In these political times, it seems like everybody is outraged on social media. It’s time to retune your algorithm for spiritual peace. Moral outrage has its place—don’t get me wrong. Biblical prophets and modern social justice advocates share a justifiable outrage over the exploitation of the poor and marginalization of the oppressed. Just as there was a time for Jesus to flip the tables, there is a reasonable time, place, and manner for you to express outrage. But you can’t... Read more

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retune your algorithm

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2025-09-21T12:36:09-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Carlos Whittaker: Rage is the Drug—Your Phone is the Needle

Last updated on: September 21, 2025 at 12:36 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Recently, influencer Carlos Whittaker posted on Instagram that rage is a drug, and your phone is the needle. If that’s so, what is the cure? Of course, Whittaker doesn’t mean just your phone, but whatever device you use to consume media, and especially social media. The Christian author, blogger, speaker, and worship leader says, “If rage is filling your heart…see the means of which it is entering your soul, and remove it.” Your soul, Whittaker says, only has a certain... Read more

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2025-09-13T11:19:00-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus & Lao Tzu on Doing All Things Well

Last updated on: September 13, 2025 at 11:19 am By Gregory T. Smith

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After a healing miracle, people said that Jesus did “all things well.” How can you develop a similar reputation for excellence? As the embodiment of living and loving Tao, Jesus demonstrated skill in everything he did. After Jesus cured a deaf man, people “were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well.” Part of Jesus’s skill was a willingness to flow with the circumstances that life presented him. In the twenty-seventh verse of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu... Read more

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2025-09-13T11:18:24-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Political Violence: Lower the Temperature & Speak Truth, Too

Last updated on: September 13, 2025 at 11:18 am By Gregory T. Smith

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Once again, political violence has people at odds. Here’s how you can lower the temperature in conversation by speaking the truth in love. Over the past several years, political violence has increased. Reasonable people on both sides decry the use of physical violence. Yet did you ever stop to consider the spiritual and psychological violence we commit in the name of our truth? As Christians, we can’t avoid addressing the hard topics that center on justice, morality, and public life.... Read more

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2025-09-01T07:17:34-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Holy Spirit and the Art of Renaming God

Last updated on: September 1, 2025 at 7:17 am By Gregory T. Smith

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For those who can no longer relate to Deity in anthropomorphic terms, relating to God as Holy Spirit can help revive a floundering faith. It might sound odd to say that renaming God as “The Holy Spirit” is an innovation. As Christians, we’re so used to this divine title. Perhaps we could use a little reclaiming with the renaming. Too often, Christians fall into one of two camps regarding the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal/Charismatic side tends to overemphasize the... Read more

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2025-09-13T11:19:55-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ending Church Conflict: 5 Loaves, 2 Fish, 1 Pouting Pastor

Last updated on: September 13, 2025 at 11:19 am By Gregory T. Smith

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The food pantry was my project, my baby. I started it—but they took it over. Church conflict grew, until I realized I was the problem. Pastors aren’t immune to immense egos. In fact, sometimes we excel at developing them. Here’s what I did when I realized that, while we all had issues, I could only truly deal with my own. Five Loaves, Two Fish When I was a kid, my parents had a tabletop plaque that read, “Love is a... Read more

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2025-09-01T07:15:12-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* Highlights Mental Health & Addiction

Last updated on: September 1, 2025 at 7:15 am By Gregory T. Smith

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Marvel’s Thunderbolts* does more than set the scene for the “New Avengers.” It also highlights mental health and addiction. I’ve gotta admit—I should have watched this film in the theater. Nothing matches a Marvel movie for theatrical greatness. If you want to experience the fights, explosions, and dramatic musical score in its full glory, you must see it in the theater. But I waited until after Disney Plus’s streaming release, on August 27. It was a big mistake—but I was... Read more

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